Some Day
Damp sheets pulled
from the dryer too soon
cool my tired skin
and soak through
to my bones.
I shiver and review the day
in my mind
in the moonlight,
the face in my memory
less beautiful
than the face pushed into my pillow,
smiling for a nanosecond
then returning to zero
imagining
it is asleep.
John wakes me with a baby in his arms
hungry,
both of them,
and I unwrap her and fold her tiny body
between us,
and she roots for my breast
and claws for my skin,
connects,
eases,
and in that moment
the three of us are
a perfect metaphor.
I throw a package of tofu and a can of tomato soup in my bag
for lunchtime
for mealtime
for whenever I get two and a quarter minutes
in front of the microwave
to stare and slow.
Some day I will set
a Thanksgiving table.
Some day I will sip
a mojito by the duck pond
and soak up the time.
My students ask questions
I would not think to ask
because I would have known
already already.
Paper, bound every
fifteen to twenty pages
by a staple, piles until
the room is empty
and I gather the collection of
hastily constructed,
badly grammatical,
shift-F7 excuses for final papers
I have ever had the pleasure
of untangling for a paycheck.
Through the door rushes a sudden flood
of laden diaper bags
and car seats
and giggles.
John hands me a peppermint hot chocolate
and I put down the red pen and
allow the heat from the paper cup
to seep into my hand
and relieve the cramping
in my finger joints.
“Beatrice, my love, did you have fun?”
“My did!”
Her whole self flops on the cushion next to mine,
curls bouncing
revealing a face
made of unmistakable
heavenly light.
A string of young words,
limp and half-formed,
stream from her
bow lips
without a breath to regroup
until her big thought is spent
and she gestures wildly at the dog
whom she apparently
was talking about.
Some day I will braid her hair
without threat of truancy elsewhere.
Some day I will sit in the grass,
a girl on each knee,
and tell them stories of
the Warrior Queen
and how she finally slayed the evil dragon
all by herself.
Copyright (c) Allison Clapp Fuentes, 2014
ALLISON CLAPP FUENTES is an artist of multiple mediums, including theater and performance art, textiles, and music. Her purpose in life is to have lots of children with her husband John (two down, and God knows how many more to go) and to make their home an environment for exploring and experiencing this beautiful world. Allison holds an MFA in Directing from Catholic University and has previously taught theater arts, English, and communications at the high school and university levels. She home schools her two daughters, B and P, and writes curriculum for home school and small learning groups.
Allison’s blog at AllisonClappFuentes.wordpress.com exists to connect, share, and encourage others with similar interests and desires, especially smart, savvy women who have dedicated their lives to raising capable and accomplished citizens of the world.
